Pages

    Tuesday, June 21, 2011

    Wedding of Lace


    I've been a long busier than expected. Who knew a summer vacation could actually require for more time away from the computer than time at a computer? Well, one of the answers is probably my new smart phone. As amazing as it is, I've had trouble with my browser for the past two days. But other than that, since I have internet access anywhere I go, that means less time on the computer, less time stalking FashionGoneRogue's newest fashion spreads, flipping through blogs, etc.

    I'm also heading to Dalian (a city in Northern China) soon! And I have no idea what to expect! I spent all last night web surfing for blogs, insider-tips, or travel guides, but it seems like there's very little on English sources and guides on Dalian. I'll be there for three weeks on my uni faculty's summer program, which also means, three weeks of no facebook or blogging. Before Saturday, I still have a concert, eye facial (hehe, awesome treat from my friend, V), packing, and many lunches and dinners with friends.

    For now, here's few pictures from Hong Kong's FLASHon Magazine by the Oriental Press Group.The magazine's theme for the week of June 16th was weddings and I fell head over heels for the pictures for their "Love Full" editorial. Double thumbs up for FLASHon on doing some amazing fashion spread. A lot of magazine in Hong Kong claim to be "fashion" magazines but they're generally just glossy pages of ads, ads, and more ads. I see more artistic touch in FLASHon than a lot of other magazines. 



    This spread reiterates the love for lace this year at weddings :) For more, check out my previous post, Lace, Lace, and more Lace. The dresses featured in these two pictures (top to bottom) are from Monique Lhuillior and Opening Ceremony.

    Pictures of the editorial taken by Delilah
    For more, check out FLASHon's Facebook page
     
    All for now,
    Delilah

    Friday, June 3, 2011

    The All American Girl Next Door


    Karlie Kloss reminds me of those sporty, subtly gorgeous, and outgoing girl next door in teen movies. For example, like Blake Lively in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies. Karlie proves to be an amazing model, from the runway to artistic magazine spreads, she's able to grace the pages perfectly. So here it is, the all-American natural beauty, Miss Karlie Kloss








    Tuesday, May 31, 2011

    Destination: Summer Travel


    Summer vacation's beginning! Where will you be going? Here's a compilation of magazine spreads from the past few months to get you thinking. I wanted to get this done before my Taipei post but decided to do the Taipei one first when everything was still fresh in my mind. :) Anyways, I'll keep you posted on my summer travels. Enjoy!

      

    Photo 1, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16: Alina Baikova by Nicole Bentley for Vogue Australia March 2011
    Photo 6, 15 :Behati Prinsloo by Mariano Vivanco for Vogue Turkey
    Photo 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, 17: Sophie Vlaming by Jean-François Campos for Flair March 2011 
    Photo 3, 7, 12: Zhang Fan by Nicoline Patricia Malina for Harper’s Bazaar Indonesia November 2010

    Source: FashionGoneRogue

    Sunday, May 29, 2011

    Destination One: Au Revoir Taipei


    Surprise, surprise! I was away for Taipei, Taiwan the week before (and I spent most of this week busily putting this post together). I know VanillaChymes is generally a fashion and arts focused blog but with the encouragement of a friend and Jeisa, I decided to do a little guide on Taipei. I had a bit of trouble finding an English guide to Taipei and I wanted to find local sources, So here it is, everything put together by experience. Hopefully you'll find it handy if you ever decide to visit yourself! It's not a comprehensive guide, but I picked out my favorites and places where I had the best experiences!

    This trip was my first to Taipei. All I had known of Taipei was from a film called Au Revoir Taipei and all I got was mostly glimpses of Eslite bookstore (the Barnes and Noble or Page One of Taipei, such a large group that it also sells apparel and stationary in various locations in Taipei), the Taipei MRT, and some of Taipei's night market. I went on this trip with three other friends for five days (arrived on Monday morning and left Friday night). In our schedule, we spent Monday at DanShui but it was raining so heavily. we couldn't see much, most of Tuesday and Wednesday in Jiu Fen, and the rest of our time exploring Taipei.

    So hear are some of the highlights of our trip. Taipei is great for eating, shop, and some sightseeing. Everything is very convenient when traveling by the MRT and there's so much to eat! My friend and I started worrying about our budget by the second night because we were like "oh dear, where did our money go?" It turns out that there's so much to eat, money just disappeared from my wallet like that! Remember to bring some extra cash! If you don't have enough, just stop by the local bank to exchange for more.

    As for the outskirts of Taipei, my favorite stop was at Jiu Fen. Jiu Fen used to be a prosperous town due to the gold mines nearby. The tea houses on its steps and its theater used to be entertainment for nearby miners. Once the gold mine reserves started declining, so did the town. Only after the film A City of Sadness by Hou Hsiao-hsien, did Jiu Fen's tourism industry start to rise again and along with it came a new start for Jiu Fen. It's very much like the touristy towns in China but the sea view is simply breathtaking and the Gold Ecological Park was so much fun!

    Taipei, Taiwan



    Destinations (pictured, top to bottom):
    1. National Concert Hall: Next to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall
    2. Spot - Taipei Film House: Right around the corner if exit 4 of ZhongShan station (walk out and you'll see the signs pointing in its direction), Spot - Taipei Film House s the hub for indie films in Taipei. The building used to be the US embassy. If you don't have time to catch a film there, have a drink and snack at either of its cafes (Le Ballon Rouge or Cafe Lumiere). I enjoyed my tea set at the Cafe Lumiere (not pictured). Both restaurants serve the same items.
    3. Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall: Commemorating the late Chiang Kai-Shek, pop in a for quick peek at this Taiwanese leaders life. My favorite part - the gift shop with cartoon-y versions of Chiang Kai-Shek on postcards and other souvenirs. Haha! :P
    4. National Palace Museum: Take a look at the historical treasures of China's history. It's one of the rather prominent destinations of Taipei.

    For more information on destinations and attractions, check out GuidePal's Taipei section. My friend wrote it! It's got a great guide on where to go in Taipei, written by a local Taiwanese (all in English)!

    Cuisine (pictured, left to right):
    1. Marinated Food at Shida Night Market. You just pick out want you want to eat at the front of the store. The workers will hand the food to the next person who chops it all up, calculates the price, and you pay. Then its cooked (more like boiled) in front of you. Take it upstairs to eat, there's a minimum amount required to be spent on drinks, but it's not much and you'll be able to enjoy your food a lot more comfortably that way.
    2. Dong Noodles (Dong Fen) with Pork Balls for Breakfast. Suggested by Sweet Potato Hostel on our first night, this is supposedly a simple traditional Taiwanese breakfast. Dong Fen is a clear thin type of noodle. I had it with meat balls and it didn't disappoint!
    3. Chun Shui Tang Bubble Tea (near ZhongShan MRT station). Chun Shui Tang claims to be the creator of Taiwan's famous bubble milk tea. There's a minimum spending of 100TWD but a  medium size bubble tea is already around 70TWD. Just try a snack while you're at it. The bubble tea there has a strong milk taste than tea. Note: the large size drinks are HUGE. It's the size of a pitcher, probably around the size of one litre. So think twice before ordering the large.
    4. Shrimp Rolls at Hai Jing Chan Ting in DanShui. As suggested in our guide book, Hai Jing Chan Ting (海風餐廳) is a favorite of locals for seafood. We had cooked clams, Taiwanese veggies, fish balls, fried baby oysters, and shrimp rolls. Our favorite was the crunchy fried oysters. The price is rather cheap. Take a bite hear before heading down DanShui's old street for more snacks! Location: right at the beginning of the old street, if you're walking from the MRT (17 Zhong Zheng Street).

    Other kinds of food to try:
    1. Ah Zhong Mian Xian: A favorite of locals, its a very thin and soft type of noodle in a very thick soup. Available at XiMenDing and more info on GuidePal (above)!
    2. Milkhouse's Half Cooked Cheese Cake PuddingHong Kong but the bottom is a light and soft pudding. I didn't take pictures but you can read more here :) Milkhouse has shops everywhere. There's one at the Taipei Railway Station and I bought mine at Breeze Center (FuXingNan Road MRT station)
    3. Cookies from Kobayashi. Get off the MRT station at FuXingNan Road (same station as Sogo) and get out at Exit 3. It's right next to the station exit. Remember to try their freshly baked cakes!

    Shopping:
    1. Beauty Products: Try Watsons or Cosmed for a wide selection. Watsons has a lot of the Asian cosmetic brand and the larger stores even have some local Taiwanese brands. Cosmed has the famous My Beauty Diary face masks (amazing effects for its low price!). Note to Hong Kong visitors though, My Beauty Diary face masks are cheaper in Hong Kong due to the recent higher conversion rate between the HKD and TWD.
    2. Clothes: Try the Shilin area or Shida Market. I was most impressed with the wide range of styles there (for example, I would see only Lilac blazer in a HK boutique but I'd fine three to five choices in only store in Shida Market). But I have to say, clothes in Taipei aren't all that cheap (compared to Hong Kong, China, the amazing taobao.com) but you'll get a large variety. Wufenpu (the wholesale market) wasn't worth much of a visit if you've been to the wholesale markets in Hong Kong (I asked for the price of quite a few tank tops and I got the price of 1080TWD, which is around 300HKD).

    Where to stay:
    STAR Hostels I have to say, this is one of the best hostels I've ever been to. Walk over from ZhongShan station in minutes (literally less than ten minutes), the area is very convenient. The common area, rooms, and bathrooms are sooo tidy and clean. The beds and pillows are as comfortable as mine at home! Breakfast is provided and the staff are very friendly and helpful! You'll be surprised at how a extremely clean, friendly, and convenient hostel is also at such a low price! It was 2000TWD per night for four people (four person dorm), which means it was 500TWD per person (around 140 HKD or less than 20USD). I'll definitely return if I visit Taipei again in the near future.

    Outside of Taipei: Jiu Fen




    Destinations:
    1. The Stairs (pictured above): Lined with tea-houses on both sides, this is the signature view of JiuFen. if you have time, have a drink or two and enjoy the scenery. Note that it's rather expensive to eat there and the quality of the food might not be great, so just stop by for tea or other drinks. Restaurants and tea houses close before 10pm!
    2. Old Street:At around the top of the steps, filled with souvenirs and snacks for tourists.
    3. Gold Museum: It's actually the Gold Ecological Park. We had so much fun there! Most of the sites are free of charge except the gold mine tunnel and gold mining experience (like those in US amusement parks where you're given a pan to siphon for gold). There's a mini museum with a huge chunk of gold (haha, I was too amused to remember the details) for you to touch (yes, touch ONLY. It's really heavily because gold is a very dense material). You can even get a lunchbox mimicked after those of gold miners and the lunchbox comes with the box and a cloth with the park's map printed on it (yours to keep!) for only 200TWD. Take a bus for around ten minutes from Jiu Fen to get there.

    Where to stay:
    Aegean Sea's Homestay. It's right next to the stairs of Jiu Fen. Very convenient. The homestay will even drive you up to Jiu Fen from the RuiFang Railway Station after you give her a call from the station. There are rooms for two or four people and extra beds are available (on an additional fee). A room for four is 3200TWD on weekdays (another price during weekends). Breakfast is included and the view from the room and breakfast place (in an extension next to the house) is great!

    Hope this helps!
    All for now,
    Delilah

    Saturday, May 14, 2011

    Lace, Lace, and more Lace


    A red lace dress from Erdem's SS 2011 collection certainly left a lasting impression this Spring and Summer season. Michelle Williams was soon spotted wearing the dress at Blue Valentine's premier last October and Alexa Chung graced the cover of Net-a-Porter's Spring 2011 magazine wearing that same dress.The lace dress trend is definitely on the radar this summer as Issa also creates a lace dress capsule collection for Net-a-Porter this year.


    For myself, I went Victoria Prison (now empty and occasionally used for various occasions) in Central, Hong Kong earlier this year for an art exhibit and came across a darkish grey blue lace on top of beige lining purse and thought "this would look really good on a dress." I'd never been a lace fan before but the combination seemed to fit perfectly and the moment I saw Alexa Chung wearing Erdem's lace dress, I was already in a must-have-this-summer mood.

    Before I knew it, similar dresses started showing up everywhere! Topshop (as worn by Kate Bosworth), French Connection, Zara TRF (a sleeveless version) all have made similar dress (if I remember correctly, Marks & Spencer also made something similar). Occasionally I'd even find runway clips with a similar above-the-knee, one-color, mid-sleeve lace dress. Do you want to see more in the future? With Kate Middleton's lace wedding gown, I don't think this trend's going to be off the shelves any time soon.



    All photos from Net-a-Porter (from top to bottom, left to right): Alexa Chung in Net-a-Porter's Spring 2011 magazine (in a red lace Erdem dress, another white Erdem dress, and the same red dress for the magazine cover) and Issa's capsule collection for Net-a-Porter.

    For more affordable options, try Topshop's Cobalt Blue Lace Flippy DressFrench Connection's Anna Lace Dress, or Dorothy Perkin's Red Lace Babydoll Dress.

    Cheers,
    Delilah

    Givenchy Couture Gives You Wings


    I'm BACK! After a uber long delay of assignments, exams, and a wee bit of vacation trip planning, I've decided to re-vamp this blog little by little. I'm not exactly the most tech savvy person out there, but I'll try to do some finishing touches that I hadn't figured out before. Let's see if you can notice the difference, hehehe.

    First off, I've been really behind with the recent season but Givenchy Spring 2011 Couture by Riccardo Tisci has recently caught my eye via a spread wit Vogue Paris May 2011. The Givenchy dress just took my breath away. The feather and stitching detail. The wings on the loose sleeves. I was totally taken a by this floor length Black Swan-esque gown. This led me to take a closer look at this couture collection. Interesting enough, the shoes and hats were by Philip Treacy. I was quite distracted by the hats when I first saw the collection but now I see the unique oriental (not the usual QiPao collar, jade jewelry elements) and Japanese samurai vibe going on. Some origami (my favorite, I used to swoon at the days when Galliano did origami for Dior Couture). Altogether, impressive Couture gowns! I'll make sure to follow up on Riccardo Tisci future collections.

    On the Runway: Givenchy Spring 2011 Couture

    Kate Moss in Vogue Paris May 2011 by Mert & Marcus


    Josephine Skriver in Vogue Germany May 2011 by Greg Kadel

    On the Red Carpet: Cate Blanchett at the Academy Awards 2011
    & Florence Welch at the Grammy Awards 2011

    All for now,
    Delilah

    Friday, April 15, 2011

    Not Any Ordinary Shirtdress


    I'm finished with my last essay of the semester! Woopie! It's been too long since I've had the chance to breathe. While I'm taking a very very short breather, here's a short post on the simple twist of a simple white button-down by Victor & Rolf, spotted on Emma Stone in the May edition of Glamour US.

    Emma Stone in Glamour US May 2011
    Photographed by Matthias Vriens-McGrath and styled by Anne Christensen.

     Photo Credits: FashionGoneRogue

    On the Runway: Victor & Rolf S/S 2011



    Photo Credits: style.com

    Awesome, no? Victor & Rolf are designers that I'd definitely categorize as "out of the box." Sometimes it's extravagant, a little over-the-top even for me. But this Spring and Summer collection was a nice twist on the traditional white button-down. The dress in the second picture would even look good as a wedding gown. The third one would be Lady Gaga, hands down. That's a double thumbs up to Victor & Rolf's collection.

    All for now!
    Delilah
    VanillaChymes © 2010